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Friday, May 24, 2013

NE, IA reaction to partial lifting of Boy Scouts gay ban

"I ran two Cub Scout groups for over 19 years back in the 1960s and
never, I say never, turned away anyone. Scouting is a good thing for
all. There are a lot of boys today who go to school with other kids who
are gay and they get along fine playing baseball or softball or
whatever. As long as people obey the rules, things are fine. So, why
should this hurt the Boy Scouts of America?"— Dennis Bullaro, former
Omaha Cub Scout leader

“Today’s vote ending discrimination of gay Scouts is truly a historic
moment and demonstrates the Boy Scouts of America’s commitment to
creating a more inclusive organization,” Zach Wahls, an Iowa Eagle Scout
and founder of Scouts for Equality, said in a statement. ...Scott Russell, a former Scout and a leader in Ankeny for more than a
decade, said in April that he would leave the organization if the policy
changed, “with a tear in my eye.” On Thursday, Russell said he
will join a coalition of parents who are planning to organize a new
youth program in line with their beliefs.

Foster Collins, a local assistant scoutmaster in Lincoln who has
pushed for an end to the ban on gay scouts and scout leaders, said he
now would like to see the Boy Scouts take the next step. “It’s a
good start,” he said. “This won't do anything to lessen the pressure to
end the ban on gay scout leaders because everyone has to see the irony
that it's OK to be a gay Boy Scout, but as soon as you reach the age of
18, you're kicked out.”

A policy about sexual orientation doesn’t belong in Boy Scouts, according to Jeff Neary. The
organization’s decision Thursday to lift the ban on openly gay members
brought bittersweet resolve to the assistant Scout master and district
court judge in Le Mars, Iowa. Gay adults will remain barred from serving as Scout leaders, and Neary said that policy continues to single people out. “We’re
sending mixed messages this way,” Neary said. “I’m glad they’ve lifted
the restriction for the boys … it’s a step in the right direction. I
don’t think it goes far enough.”

JoeMyGod has reaction from LGBT organizations here followed by this trenchant, but pertinent comment by "Mike,"a reader:

Gee, awfully nice of NGLTF to
issue a press release considering they did absolutely nothing to make
this happen. This happened largely because one extremely smart and
self-motivated young man — Zach Wahls — took the bull by the horns and
started going after BSA's corporate sponsors. Zach confronted them with
their own anti-discrimination policies and demanded to know why they
were violating their own corporate principles. One by one they dropped
the BSA - Intel, Verizon, UPS and on and on. And then suddenly there
was a newfound interest on the part of the BSA to rethink its policies. I wonder why the so-called "Task Force" didn't think to do any of
this. Maybe a quarter of a million dollars in salary for their
Executive Director isn't enough to prod creative thinking.

Maynard (Bob "Gilligan's Island" Denver) slyly flashes a nipple to the CBS eye while trying to talk his best buddy Dobie Gillis (Dwayne Hick­man) into taking off all his clothes. Whoever said 1950s television was a vast waste­land obviously didn't know where to look.